Page 47 of Enchanted Kisses
Had I been thinking clearly, I would have snapped at him, or yanked the covers back up. Instead, I just laid there in my boyshorts and tank top, the hem curled up, baring my stomach.
With his palms down, Caiden moved his hands until they hovered over my exposed belly button. They began to shimmer with swirls of gold, silver, and blue.
“What are you doing?” I started to sit up.
“Nothing bad. Lie flat and be still, please.” His eyes closed and his hands swept from my head to my feet, never touching me.
Tickling sensations traveled over my skin, making me squirm and giggle.
“You’re fidgeting,” he said, even though his eyes remained closed.
“Stop tickling me then.” The sensation of being poked in the side made me jump and squeal.
“How can I tickle you when I’m not touching you?” He grinned. “Now hold still. I’m almost done.” Another sweep of his hands moved above my body. “There.” He opened his glowing eyes and rubbed his palms on his thighs. Sparks crackled between his hands and jeans. “You’re golden.”
“I’m what?” I shot upright, anxious to examine my skin in the dim room.
“You’regoodis what I meant.”
“Phew!” I flopped back onto the pillows. “Gold might look good on you, but I don’t think it would have the same effect on me.”
“No need to worry. You’re exactly the same.” His eyes roamed my body.
I glanced around for my robe.
“I put a new glamour on you,” he said. “The old one didn’t work as I thought it would. This one should keep Dagan from discovering anything more about you. No one in my realm can know I found you. They think a human distracted me from my quest. And for my plan to work, Dagan needs to continue thinking you’re mortal.”
“He does.” I pushed up on my elbows. “He told me.”
“How do you know he wasn’t testing you?”
“Because sentries can’t lie. And because he said it as a compliment.” I might have been bragging, tempting Caiden in a way that might backfire, but I couldn’t help myself. “His exact words were, ‘For a mortal, you are enchanting.’”
Caiden’s features hardened. “Were they now?”
Was he angry with me? “I didn’t do anything to provoke him,” I clarified and sat up. “Why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad with you.” He stared past me. “I’m angry with myself.”
“Why?” I planted my body directly in front of him. We sat knee to knee, and he still wouldn’t look at me.
“I should have left earlier.” He looked pained. “I should have avoided you for at least four months before renouncing my realm. Dagan wouldn’t have been able to trace my essence to you if I had.”
“How could he trace your essence to me? That doesn’t make sense.”
Finally, his bright eyes met mine. “When two of our kind are…close,” it was clear he meant to say something else, “the essence of one being can linger on the other. I led him right to you.” He closed his eyes and the light in them faded to a crescent shape beneath his lashes.
“I’m glad you didn’t leave earlier.” It was easier to speak the truth in the dark. “I’m even happier that you’re back.”
His glowing orbs lifted, casting a dim light on my face. “I’m sorry for leaving the way I did.”
“I forgive you.” I smiled, because I meant it. “And don’t worry about Dagan. Once he sees how lame my life is, he’ll get bored and move on.”
Caiden’s gaze trailed over my face as if he were memorizing my features.
Heat pooled in my cheeks. “Is it possible to put a glamour on me that makes me look different—better? One that’ll give me longer legs,”bigger boobs, “blonde hair?” I lifted a few strands of mine.
“Why would I do that? You’re perfect the way you are.”
